This invention relates to a two-stage mouth guard for protecting teeth, lips, and jaw from injury and/or for supporting the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in a relatively fixed position thereby stabilizing the TMJ during head contact activities and/or to permit the components of any TMJ disorders to be realigned for proper healing.
Prior to the present invention, disorders to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) of the face have been overlooked and misdiagnosed. Although many rules and regulations in contact sports such as football, boxing, and contact karate exist for protecting the body, the TMJ of the face still needs adequate protection. The common mouth guard does little, if anything at all, to protect the TMJ. Although a high percentage of contact sport athletes have a TMJ disorder which is usually overlooked or taken lightly, it has been estimated that these disorders are more widespread with up to 50% of the population seeking dental treatment exhibiting some degree of TMJ dysfunction. The trauma produced n this joint has greater effects and manifestations than trauma produced in any other joint of the body. However, this is the most misdiagnosed, ignored, and untreated joint in the body. The seriousness of this joint is due to its anatomical structure, the approximation to the cerebral housing, and its functions. The gladiators, such as boxers, being the most proficiently trained in the administration of trauma to this delicate area, have created crippling injuries beyond imagination. The Health Profession must begin to focus its attention to treatment, care, maintenance, and prevention of injury to this joint and joint spaces.
TMJ dysfunctions are pathologic conditions of the craniomandibular articulation which affect mandibular opening, mastication, deglutition, and possibly other neurologic functions. A common type of dysfunction is internal derangement. A wide variety of causes exist for the TMJ dysfunction. It can be caused by a blow to the head, chin, or jaw due to a contact sport, an accident, attacks of violence, or just a simple fall. Stress, strain, tension, environmental pressure, and noise can also cause a mild dysfunction of the TMJ. The premature loss of teeth, especially the molar teeth, can cause disorders. It can be caused in infants by compression of the TMJ area at the time of child birth; this normally occurs by misuse of forceps by a doctor when pulling an infant down the birth canal of the mother.
Mild internal derangement of the TMJ may manifest itself in many symptoms, for example: pain around the neck, eyes, and ears, popping or clicking of the disc within the TMJ, clinching of facial muscles, grinding of teeth, malocclusion (i.e., teeth do not meet together well or meet improperly), ringing in the ears, notable rapid fatigue during physical activities, increased irritability, headaches of unknown origin, and the decrease of one's physical output.
One of the effects of the TMJ dysfunction is that the biting muscles of the jaw become sore which may cause other debilitating dysfunctions. If TMJ dysfunctions are not treated immediately, damage is often irreversible.
Many methods of treatment exist for correcting TMJ dysfunctions. One method of treating the TMJ dysfunctions is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,280; a craniomandibular appliance of a unitary insert of a remoldable thermoplastic material in the form of a dental arch is molded to the person's mouth in situ for positioning the mandible in a more forward position to obtain a reduced click or non-click condylar position. Another method of treatment or the TMJ disorders is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,766; a two-component intra-oral orthotic appliance with a wing on each component (where one fits in the maxillary arch and the other fits in the mandibular arch) is used to support the TMJ by closing the mouth so that the wing of each of the two components engages in a predetermined position to allow proper aligning of the TMJ for repair.
Neither of these patents discloses the instant invention.